''You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977–1984'' is a 2007

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about

punk subculture The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from 1977 through 1984. The film was written and directed by Joe Losurdo and Christina Tillman, and profiles the punk bars and local bands that gave rise to the city's punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Losurdo was the one-time bass player for the Chicago-based 1980s hardcore band, Life Sentence, although his group is not profiled in the movie. Reviewer Max Goldberg of the ''

San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...

'' called the film "a thrillingly exhaustive survey of early Chicago punk." ''You Weren't There'' was released on DVD in 2009. A limited edition white vinyl LP of the soundtrack was also issued and came packaged with copies of the DVD. The film was released on Vimeo in 2014.

Bands profiled in the film

Articles Of Faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Nake ...

* DA! *

The Effigies The Effigies were an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. The band played its first show in 1980 and was active initially for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes with frontman John Kezdy the only cons ...

* End Result *

Mentally Ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

* Negative Element *

Rights of the Accused Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

* Savage Beliefs * Silver Abuse *

Strike Under Strike Under was an influential Chicago punk rock band of the early 1980s. It was started by Steve Bjorklund (vocals, guitar) after the demise of The Rabbits. The principal musicians, besides Bjorklund, were his brother Chris (guitar), Pierre Kez ...

* Subverts * Tutu And The Pirates * Verböten * The Way-Outs

People interviewed in the film

* Terry Fox (Mgr. O'Banion's, Mgr. Tut's, Owner Exit, Clox) * Ken Ellis (La Mere Vipere, O'Banion's, Rainbow Club) * John Kezdy (The Effigies) *

Vic Bondi Vic Bondi is an American singer-songwriter and one of the founding members of political Chicago hardcore punk band Articles of Faith. He went on to form Alloy, and Jones Very after AoF's demise. At the time of AoF's original breakup Bondi was wo ...

(Articles Of Faith) * Steve Bjorklund (Strike Under) * Chris Bjorklund (Strike Under) *

Jeff Pezzati Jeffrey Neal "Jeff" Pezzati (born February 6, 1960) is the lead singer of the Chicago punk band Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered ...

(Naked Raygun) *

Santiago Durango Santiago Alonso Durango (born 1957) is a Colombian–American attorney and retired musician. He is best known for his work with the 1980s punk rock groups Naked Raygun and Big Black. Life and career Durango is the son of a Colombian doctor. H ...

(Silver Abuse, Naked Raygun, Big Black) *

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

(Big Black) *

John Haggerty John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(Naked Raygun) * Mike O'Connell (Rights Of The Accused) * Anthony Illarde (Rights Of The Accused) *

Jay Yuenger Jay Noel Yuenger (born December 26, 1966), also known by the stage name "J.", is a rock guitarist best known for his work with Grammy-nominated heavy metal band White Zombie. Music career As a teenager, Yuenger's interests quickly progressed ...

(Rights Of The Accused) * Dave Springer (Tutu and the Pirates) *

Pierre Kezdy Pierre Kezdy (January 4, 1962 – October 9, 2020) was an American bass player, known for playing with various Chicago punk bands, including Naked Raygun, Pegboy, Strike Under, Arsenal, and Trial By Fire. He was also the younger brother of E ...

(Strike Under, Trial By Fire, Naked Raygun) * Earl Letiecq (The Effigies) * Barry Stepe (Negative Element) * Chopper Stepe (Negative Element) * Steve Stepe (Rights Of The Accused) * Dem Hopkins (owner of the Oz bar) * Eric Nihilist (local promoter) * Rodney Anderson (Seismic Waves, Fast & Loud Radio) * Timothy Powell (sound engineer) * Terry Nelson (DJ for WZRD Chicago) * Bill Meehan (Silver Abuse, The Way-Outs) * Camilo Gonzalez (Silver Abuse, The Way-Outs, Naked Raygun) * Steve Smith (End Result) * Lorna Donley (DA!) * Brian Gay (Savage Beliefs) * Special Ed (Mentally Ill) * Sado Marquis (Mentally Ill) * Brian Green (Subverts) * Steve Ross (Subverts) *

Jason Narducy Jason V. Narducy is an American musician from Evanston, Illinois, United States. After receiving his first guitar at the age of nine Narducy started his music career, playing guitar and writing songs for his punk rock band, Verboten. Verboten i ...

(Verboten)

Soundtrack

* Tutu & The Pirates - "Wham Bam

Son Of Sam David Richard Berkowitz (born Richard David Falco, June 1, 1953), also known as the Son of Sam and .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer who pleaded guilty to eight shootings that began in New York City on July 29, 1976. Berkowitz ...

" * Mentally Ill - " Gacy's Place" * Buzzards - Who Are The Boys? * The Way-Outs - "Surf Combat" * Painterband - "Reactor" * Strike Under - "Elephant's Graveyard" *

DA! (band) DA! was a Chicago-based post-punk band of the early 1980s, known for their songs "Dark Rooms" and "Time Will Be Kind". Their sound was influenced by artists such as the Cure, Gang of Four (band), Gang of Four, Bauhaus (band), Bauhaus and Siouxsie ...

- "Dark Rooms" * Subverts - "Eyesore" * Toothpaste - "Spy Guy" * End Result - "They Love War" * Naked Raygun - "Tojo (demo)" * Trial By Fire - "Rocks Of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

" * Articles Of Faith - "I Got Mine" * Negative Element - "Anti-

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

" * Verboten - "Slump Shot" * Rights Of The Accused - "Fuckup" * Savage Beliefs - "Big Big Sky" * Nasdat Rebel - "Bounty" * Seismic Waves - "Lypsynch To

The Go-Gos The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belinda ...

References

External links

* * *{{IMDb title, 1340142 Documentary films about punk music and musicians Music of Chicago Documentary films about Chicago 2007 films 2007 documentary films American documentary films 2000s American films